Sophomore
by thesepainsinmychest
Summary: I drop your name with all my friends, but aint it a shame that it's pretend. And I'm pretty sure that one day you will meet me and you will see just how cool I am. But for now I'm just, for now I'm stuck as a sophomore. #DarrenCriss #Glee
1. Chapter 1

"Hi beautiful" Hands wrapped around my waist. I turned around to see a tall boy with perfectly coiffed brown hair and piercing green eyes.

"Ugh, Sebastian stop being such a creep and fucking STOP following me everywhere!"

"I like you, what's wrong with that?", Sebastian grinned wolfish.

"You only want to have sex with me since you do this to every girl before you dump her.", I tried to avoid his eyes, while getting my stuff for sixth period.

"Well what should I say, I just like having sex with experienced women like yourself, cutie." He grabbed my hand and forced me to turn around.

"So what do you say? Dinner at Maggiano's at 6 and then ..", he winked.

I blushed and tried to give him the most loathing look that I have in my repertoire. "Let me go or – "

"Or what?", he looked at me innocently. "Just leave me alone Sebastian!" I slammed my locker shut and walked away quickly, feeling his gaze burning on my back.

As I stepped into French class a few minutes later looking for Lauren, I made short eye contact with the cutest, most handsome face on earth. Actually my heart skipped a beat – and so did I. On my way to the back of the class I tripped over a bag lying on the middle of the floor. I imagine myself having the look on my face like they have in movies, when you see someone falling in slow motion. But I landed soft.

I landed - well, I really want to say in his arms, because that would be so cliché and cheesy and therefore romantic, but I landed on top of the reason for my heart not knowing how to beat properly. I bet it had been very painful for him too, cause I'm pretty sure I knocked him down with my elbow, but he helped me up, smiled and said: "Well that's another way of meeting people. I'm Darren by the way."

He kept smiling at me and I couldn't help but stare into his big, hazel eyes. He had the cutest goddamn smile in the entire world. I remember staring at him and blushing when realizing that one minute went by without me saying anything.

"I-I'm Sarah."

"Chrm chrm" The French teacher had come in and was throwing stern looks at us, so I smiled at Darren, whispered: "I am SO sorry for falling on top of you!" and hurried to the back of the room, where Lauren was already waiting, giggling excitedly.

"Tell me EVERYTHING!" Lauren's voice got really high pitched. It reminded me of some Disney character.

"I don't know what you're talking about. What's there to tell. I fell over that stupid bag and landed-"

"in heaven"

"- on top of a boy .. who happens to be cute. So what."

"Sarah, you're blushing." I had to laugh at the expression on Lauren's face. I hadn't seen her that excited since her dad got her a brand new car for her birthday.

"Sorry to interrupt you ladies back there. Does my lesson disturb you? I'm sure whatever it is you are talking about can't wait! So what's so important, tell the whole class! Alors, ditez-moi - EN FRANCAIS!", you could tell the teacher was upset because he huffed in annoyance.

"Um .. nothing .. we were just talking about-"

"EN FRANCAIS!", the vessel on his forehead began to pulsate weirdly. God, he should be awarded Scariest Person On Earth.

"Um nous avons été en train de uhm .. » Oh shit, he caught me completely off guard. I never intended to take my exams in French so I didn't bother to pay attention for the whole past year. Therefore my French speaking skills were a bit rusted in. Oh great and now the cute boy was smiling at me.

"Ahm .. " I nudged Lauren, looking at her desperately.

" Désolé, M. Rhodes. Nous avons été en train de discuter le dernier devoir. », Lauren said in perfect french.

I felt myself blushing in shame. Well, at least the teacher was satisfied and droned on, while I was left feeling like a complete idiot. I managed to somehow blank not only the teacher but also Lauren out, who kept rambling about some Grant Gustin sex riot on twitter .. something about a photo shoot and a moustache. She would casually let out a quiet, suppressed squeal of joy, sigh and mumble something that sounded a lot like _sooo sexy_.

I flipped my notebook open and started drawing something without really paying attention to the motive, daydreaming while the chorus of It's time by Imagine Dragons was stuck in my head. _It's time to begin, isn't it? I get a little bit bigger but then I'll admit I'm just the same as I waaas._ I felt the desperate need of standing up and giving an impromptu performance on the teacher's desk like they always did in Lauren's favorite TV series. God damnit, this lesson was so boring and the clock that was hanging by the blackboard seemed to be broken. Just as I was about to doze off, Darren, the cute boy I fell onto at the beginning of the lesson, turned around in his seat. He grinned adorable and – did he just wink?! He asked the person sitting behind him for a pencil and held a slip of paper up into the air so I could see what was written on it.

_Just play along_

He turned around again, leaving me incredibly fussed and irritated. My heart was pounding as he showed his hand to the teacher. "Sir, I'm not feeling well .. I think I might-" He made that kind of noise that made perfectly clear what he was about to do. M. Rhodes huffed in annoyance once again. "Err, alright. Just go to the bathroom, you're excused. Would somebody please escort Mr. uhm what's your name again?-"

" Criss"

"yes, would somebody please escort Mr. Criss to the bathroom?" Nobody was really eager to see the new kid barfing so nobody came forward. Not until Darren turned slightly on the spot to look at me intensely it dawned on me that this was my keyword.

"Uhm, I'll do it Mr. Rhodes.", I stood up nervously and made my way to the front. Out of the tail of my eye I saw Lauren staring at me with a mixture of disbelief and agitation. I could practically hear her screaming "TELL ME ALL ABOUT IT!". Together Darren and I left the classroom. As soon as the door closed behind us, the suffering, distressed look on his face was replaced by a big smile.

"Soou, what do you wanna do?"


	2. Chapter 2

His enthusiasm took me by surprise. "Uhm I .. what just happened?"

Darren shrugged and said: "That lesson was about the most boring thing ever, so I figured you could show me around a bit." He grinned cheekily.

Now that he wasn't sitting anymore, I could look at him properly for the first time. He was not very tall, something like 5'8, but still a bit taller than me. The top buttons of his plain white T-shirt were undone and he was wearing tight, black pants and green brownish shoes. I completely turned into mush looking at his face, that was surrounded by dark brown curls. His big hazel eyes were sparkling with excitement.

While we were walking through the halls he told me: "I'm new in this town. My big bro and I just moved here, so basically I don't know any places. And after all – you owe me one after attacking me this morning." I flushed, still embarrassed about what had happened earlier.

"Um alright .. err so this is the campus, obviously .. the cafeteria is to your right – make sure you avoid the pizza – it's designed to kill!"

"Noted", he looked at me curiously as if he was trying to figure something out, but merely smiled and looked away. We walked in silence a bit, but soon enough he looked at me again and started talking. "So tell me something about yourself!"

"Ahm .. I'm 18 .. I love to play the piano and I can't do algebra for my life. My biggest goal is to work at Disney Pixar someday – as animator." I blinked at him to see if he was laughing at me, but to my surprise he just looked super excited and could barely contain himself from jumping up and down. "You like Disney?!", he squealed. The look on his face made me giggle, "So your excitement tells me you like it too, right?"

"Like?! I LOVE it! I have all of the classics at home. The new ones kind of suck, except for Brave .. and Tangled oh and Up .. do you like the new ones?! OH, Finding Nemo 3D will be released soon. Do you wanna go watch.. um .. I mean with a couple of your friends? Which one is your favorite? Am I rambling? Sorry, I am rambling.", Darren blushed and looked at me apologetically.

"Not all, yes, um it'd be a tough fight between Aladdin and Mulan and yes, but it's cute.", I smiled at him.

"You think I'm cute?", his widened eyes were brighter than before and they somehow seemed to have changed color. They were bright green now. He looked at me innocently. Shit, why is it all of the sudden so hot in here? It's the middle of December in Michigan and I feel like ripping off my clothes. Well I wouldn't mind if he did the same actually – ugh, I have to stop reading fanfiction.

We decided to sit down in a little café not far from our school. I wanted to know more about him, keep him talking, so I asked him: "So what do you like – apart from Disney?" He frowned and answered: "Hmm, let's see .. I like sushi, beaches and small animals, who are nice .. and my girlfriend."

Oh my god, he was the most precious thing ever –wait, did he just say his GIRLFRIEND?!


	3. Chapter 3

"Woah, wait - so you're in a relationship and you're already hitting on other girls?!", I was actually getting really angry, because this just sounded all too familiar. I stood up and was about to leave, when Darren took my hand and forced me to look at him. "What would make you think that I'm hitting on you? "

"I .. um."

"I just needed somebody to show me around and you seemed nice. I'm sorry if I gave you the impression that I was hitting on you.", he looked at me with big eyes and smiled cautiously. Oh my god, this was so embarrassing. I blushed, slowly sank back into my seat and played with a little hole in the tablecloth avoiding eye contact. "Sorry, I'm a bit sensitive on that topic." He looked at me curiously, but decided to drop the subject. In his usual joyful manner he said: "Never mind. As I said before, I moved here from San Francisco with my big brother, Chuck – he's in this really awesome band called Freelance Whales! You should check them out ASAP! Oh and I play the guitar – we should jam together sometime."

Still embarrassed I mumbled something like: "Yeah sure .. why not." I blinked at him to see if he was still staring at me. Luckily he wasn't as he was trying to get the waiter to notice him, so I had the chance to look at him closely again. He had the most beautiful eyelashes I've ever seen on a guy .. or a women for that matter.

Oh great, Sarah, what are you doing?! He has a girlfriend, so stop looking at him as if he was your Prince Charming! But where was his girlfriend, was she still in San Francisco or did she move with him or … Oh shit, did I just say that out loud?!

"Um yeah, she's still in San Francisco … we are trying the long distance relationship thing and hopefully it'll work out – ex-excuse me, miss, could we pay please?", Darren waved and smiled at the waitress even though she had been ignoring him the whole time.

"Why are you always smiling?!", this came out way more hostile than it was meant to be. He frowned. "My mom always says: the power of a smile goes a long way! And my experiences have taught me that this is very true. People are way more likely to do something for you if you approach them kindly." As if to emphasize his theory, the waitress almost immediately came to our table. After paying for our drinks (he paid for mine, the gentleman that he is), I decided to take him to the harbor which happened to be very close to my house.

On our way home I asked him curiously: "Soo what kind of music do you like?" Darren smiled and answered: "Hmm I'm a huge Brittany Howard fan – you know, she's the front woman for Alabama Shakes. She's got such a cool, raw energy you don't expect. Oh and the Of Monsters and Men record just came out and I absolutely love it – I'm always a sucker for anyone with a Scandinavian accent singing harmonies with a guy and a girl .. We should try some of the songs together sometime", he smiled excitedly.

"Ah yeah, and there's this really kickass band called Capital Cities .. Their EP is amazing!" Darren's face lit up, while talking about music. It clearly was his passion. "What about you Sarah?", he looked at me curiously.

"You know, I'm all over the place – I like indie rock, rock n' roll and soul but also pop. And musical theater soundtracks. My favorite band of all time is Walk The Moon .. and Ron Pope never fails to make me cry."He smiled at me. "Oh and I love Hanson!", I added, blushing a bit. Darren almost chocked on his chewing gum. "Oh my god, I love you!", he almost screamed. It was very clear that this was supposed to be a joke, but either way my heart was thumping out of my chest.

"I've never met someone who liked them too! People always laugh at me for saying that they're awesome but I always tell them: Well why don't you make a better Motown record when you're 11, then get back to me. Ok, so you just broke the cool scale."

I grinned at him. "Yeah I know, they're awesome .. I mean, it's like what Michael Jackson did!"

We walked in silence for a bit, but as we reached my doorstep, he smiled and said: "Thanks for showing me around .. we should do this again sometime." He leaned in to kiss me on the cheek and I completely turned into mush. The things his smile did to my body were really not funny. I somehow managed to smile and say: "I'd love to. See ya!", turn around and go inside, before he could see that I was actually trembling.


	4. Chapter 4

I was leaning on the inside of the door, trying to regain my cool, as I heard noise coming out of the kitchen. My parents weren't supposed to come home from work for another six hours, because they both had the late night shift in the local hospital. My body stiffened as I took my brothers old baseball bat out of the closet in the hallway and walked cautiously towards the kitchen. With every step I took, my heart was progressively thumping harder as I crossed the corridor. The noises became louder and louder and – wait, it sounded like someone was cooking. Burglars don't cook, when they rob someone, do they?! I pushed the kitchen door open , only to see my two besties storming towards me, bombarding me with questions. "TELL US ALL ABOUT IT!", they yelled in perfect unison.

"Is he hot? I mean Lauren told me he is, but I wanna hear it from you!", Chris squealed with excitement, "Where did you take him? Please don't say KFC! Was it romantic? Did he flirt with you?!" "Say something!", Lauren sounded almost desperate. I remained silent.

"Is he gay?", Chris said with a devilish smile.

I shook my head: "No .. no he isn't gay. He's perfect. "

"But honey, if he's perfect, why the sad puppy eyes?", Chris forced me to look him in the eyes. Lauren looked at me concerned with furrowed brows.

"He .. he has a girlfriend."

"Oh .. shit.", Lauren and Chris looked as disappointed as I was feeling.

"Yeah. But I'll get over it, just give me something to eat, stat!" Chris' face lit up. "Well lucky for you, I just tried out a new recipe and you two are my first victims – as always." He winked and tampered with something that he just pulled out of the oven.

Lauren hugged me: "Hey, shit happens. But you don't even know how long that relationship's gonna last. You know how long the long distance relationship between my sister and her boyfriend lasted? Two weeks. Probably because he finally realized what an annoying brat she really is, but ..", her voice trailed off. I gave her a weak smile. "Come on, we pop in a movie and let Chris spoil us with whatever he's been creating over there FOR ALMOST TWO HOURS."

As if this was his keyword, Chris came out of the kitchen, carrying a large bowl of something that looked like ordinary macaroni and cheese. "Hey Lauren, would you please move your cute little ass and get us three Diet Cokes. Thanks!", he blew her a kiss.

"OH MY GOD, Chris this is delicious!", I wasn't lying, those were the best macaroni and cheese I've tasted so far. "You know, if the whole acting thing doesn't work out –which I absolutely doubt, but just in case - you should seriously consider cooking, you know, having your own restaurant."

"Thanks sweetie, will do. Ok, so I brought West Side Story-"

"Ugh, not again!", Lauren groaned.

"Schh you, Pretty Woman, Forrest Gump or .. drum roll .. the third season Queer As Folk.", you could tell from the excited look on his face what HE wanted to watch.

"Hmm I don't know … maybe West Side Story ..", I loved to tease him. Lauren made kind of a grunting noise and shook her head animatedly, unable to talk with her mouth full. "Nah, I'm just messing with you two – Qaf it is, of course. Which episode are we watching?"

Chris smiled and began to explain: "Brian and Justin haven't been together for nearly 8 episodes - you know Justin was with this violin playing prick, Ethan. But then Justin breaks up with Ethan, because he found out that he cheated on him. So now Justin wants to get back with Brian, of course .. oh, and he tries to get an internship at Brian's company to be around him more often." He sat down on the couch, cuddled up to me and pressed play …

**B:** _You also understand that you'll be required to work long .. hard hours, sometimes deep into the night? _

**J:** _It'll be a pleasure to work under you, Sir. _

**B:**_ And you NEVER to play violin music in my presence again? _

**J:**_ I promise. _

B: Good. _Well then..you can..start.. immediately._

"God, isn't there any scene where they don't have incredibly kinky sex?! I love it." I nudged Chris playfully.

"Hey have you two heard of Dylan Saunders party? His cousin just turned 21, which means plenty of alcohol to go around.", Lauren told us excitedly.

"Hm.", Chris didn't even bother to look away from the screen. "I suppose there are only the popular kids invited, as always. Which means we aren't .. we're the bottom of the social heap, if you recall." He watched the sex scene with a furrowed brow as if he was trying to figure something out.

"Yeah I know, thanks for reminding me .. but no, ALL Sophomores are invited.", she looked excitedly from Chris to me and then back to Chris. "Oh come on! Don't be such a stick in the mud! Sarah?"

"Ah I don't know .. nobody will probably bother talking to us-" Chris nodded confirmatively with his eyes still glued to the screen.

" - and I've had enough alcohol for a year – at least – on my brothers birthday party last month." I ended up barfing while my mum was bragging about how she told me to be careful with the schnapps.

"But I heard Joe Walker's going to be there too.", Lauren said in a sing-sang voice. She watched Chris carefully and grinned, because this finally got his attention.

"JOE? Where did you get that?", he blushed and you could tell that he was beyond excited. He had been after Joe since Freshman year, but had never been brave enough to actually talk to him.

Lauren smiled and said secretively: "Oh, I have my sources. So are you two coming?" She could see that the battle was won. Chris nodded excitedly and Lauren said with a devilish smile: "And you know Sarah, that Darren kid is probably gonna be there too. Whatever that means."


End file.
